Moving Back
by primestar
Summary: Emily and her family abruptly move away from Canada leaving a very sad and very heartbroken Derek. Two years later, she reappears with her feelings in tow, but has Derek moved on? Demily!
1. Back in Town

Hello again! It's been awhile since I've written a story but here I present another Demily story. I know many people out there must hate me for writing this, but then again I'm sure there are a couple people who wouldn't mind my story. So without further ado, I give to you "Moving Back."

**Disclaimer: **Don't we all wish we could own something as awesome as Life With Derek?

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Chapter One – Back in Town

Emily peered out through the window and she breathed in the sight of good ol' Canada. She had been gone for two years and her heart ached to be back here, but more specifically it ached for Derek. Two years ago, Emily's grandma suffered a severe stroke and her parents had so quickly decided to move to New Mexico to take care of her. Emily was angry at her parents' dismissal of her own feelings and her life, but she was helpless. More so, she was heartbroken to be leaving behind Derek Venturi. After a lifetime of pining for the boy-next-door, he finally came around and was finally hers and now had to leave him and all she knew behind.

"Emily, dear, we're home!" Emily's mom had exclaimed. Emily was so lost in thought she didn't even notice that the car stopped, but as she looked out the window there was home. Her home since childhood full of memories that she was glad to have back, but more importantly was the house next door to it and who could be inside that very moment.

"Emily, come on, I know you wanna see all your friends so hurry up." Emily's mom called out once again.

Emily immediately snapped out of her reverie and took up on of her boxes and headed into her house. She walked through her old room and her head instantly filled with memories. Casey and her having sleepovers. Derek coming over to "do homework." Derek coming over to just be with her. Emily sighed as she trudged back down the stairs to gather another box.

Just as she was heading towards her front door, she heard giggling coming from next door. Immediately her senses perked up because she wasn't sure if it was Casey or Lizzie or Marti or a new girl. Derek's new girl. The thought hit her like a truck and she immediately felt winded but she hid behind a bush and took a quick peak. Sure enough it was some new girl. Derek was holding this girl's hand as they headed inside his house and Emily watched as the door slowly closed behind them.

What was she hoping for? That after two years he would be waiting for her and holding off on other girls. She knew Derek well enough to know that the boy couldn't last two days without a girl in his life let alone two years. She really thought he had changed once they got together. Apparently not. A lone tear slid down Emily's cheek, but she swiftly wiped it away and slowly made her way into her room.

Emily began unpacking all her boxes when her phone abruptly started to ring.

"Hello?"

"OH MY GOSH EM! You are finally back, like I knew you were gonna be. So how was the trip over? Are you okay? We need to catch up because two years without you here seemed like an eternity."

Emily knew that crazy, upbeat behavior anywhere. It was none other than her best friend and Derek's stepsister, Casey McDonald.

"Hey Case. I'm just finally glad to be here and not down in New Mexico. That place was just so beyond boring. I feel a little tired, but I wanted to try and unpack as much as I could." Emily replied wearily.

"Oh totally, you should get some rest and maybe we can hang out tomorrow or something. I also had some things I wanted to tell you before you got back into the groove of things around here." Casey said with a certain undertone in her voice. Emily knew it had to do with Derek and frankly she wasn't sure she could handle anything anymore.

"Yeah, sure Case. Just call me tomorrow or something." Emily said sounding extremely tired.

"Alright Em, get some rest and see you tomorrow." Casey said before she hung up.

Emily got back to unpacking when she picked up a picture at the bottom of one of her boxes. It was a picture of her and Derek at Winter Formal and the people in that picture looked so happy. Emily realized this couldn't be true anymore and once again a lone tear slid down her cheek only to be joined by a cascade of tears as she sobbed herself to sleep.

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So how did I do? Did it meet to your standards? Well if not, that's what the "Submit Review" button is for. To tell me if I suck or if this is awesome and should I keep going. Alright enough notes, just review already! 


	2. Welcome Back

Hello hello. I know update so soon? Consider it my Halloween treat for those few of you who are interested in my little ol' story. Just to clarify, I like Dasey just as much as the next person, but wouldn't you all mind a little variation? Yes? No? Fine, fine just read on or exit.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Life With Derek at all, nor will I ever.

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Chapter 2 – Welcome Back…

Emily woke up bright and early since the sun seemed to be shining right into her eyes. She made her way towards the bathroom with the rest of the house in utter silence. As she looked up at herself in the mirror, she could see a slight puffiness surrounding her eyes which seemed to be the result of her late night cry-fest. She just couldn't help but feel so alone and withdrawn that all she could do was cry. She knew it was a horrible way to try and get back what her life used to be or at least what was left of it, and from that, it required her to think positively.

Around 10:00AM her phone began to ring and she knew there was really only one person that dared to call her at such an early hour.

"Hey Em, sorry hope I didn't wake you." Casey's voice reverberated through the phone.

"Morning Casey. I actually was awake for a little bit so no harm done." Emily offered politely.

"So since you're awake, how about we hit our fave breakfast spot, Dillon's Diner."

"Sounds good, see you front in like 10 minutes?"

"Alrighty, see you then." Casey replied as they both hung up. Emily was already casually dressed in jeans and a long-sleeve tee shirt so she grabbed a hoodie and made her way outside. The bright autumn sun was shining brightly into Emily's eyes as she stood on the sidewalk in front of her house. She heard a door close and whipped her head around to see Casey making her way towards her.

"EM!" Casey exclaimed as she brought Emily into a tight hug. Despite Casey's craziness and neat-freak behavior, she was happy to have made a best friend out of her.

They jumped into Casey's car and made their way to the diner. The waitress seated them and handed them each a menu even though both had ordered the same thing more or less every time they went there.

"So Casey, tell me what's been going on? How are you and Max? How are the school plays? Still number one in our grade?" Emily shot question after question hoping to avoid the inevitable subject of Derek.

"Oh you know everything's been alright. Me and Max are doing perfectly fine and couldn't be better. Of course there is the occasional argument but we come to our senses and work it out. Max has actually shown up to every single play I've been in which has really shown how supportive he is." Casey laughed as she continued on. "Well I wouldn't say number one, I mean that just sounds too modest, but I can say that I am getting really good marks and whatnot."

Emily offered a smile but wasn't sure if Casey could see through the fakeness plastered on her face.

"How about you Em? I mean I know we've talked almost every other day while you've been gone, but there are certain people you haven't talked to in quite awhile." Casey said hinting at the elephant in the room.

"It's just that…" Emily sighed as she tried to search for the words that would make some sense as to why she didn't keep in touch with Derek.

"How is he?" Emily questioned looking straight into Casey's eyes hoping for some kind of good news, whatever that would be.

"He's doing alright. He's been keeping up his grades so he's been able to play hockey for the team which is pretty much his life. Well everything is the same except for a new addition…" Casey trailed off not wanting to keep on talking and knowing that she would hurt Emily if she kept on going.

"It's okay Casey, you don't have to tip-toe around the subject. I actually saw him with her, whoever she is, yesterday while I went back to the moving truck." Emily said while trying to hold her composure.

"Oh Em, I didn't want you to find out like this. I wish I could have broken the news before you saw the real thing, but unfortunately that's just the way it happened. Her name is Mia and they've been dating for the past 11 or so months."

That hit Emily like a rock because she couldn't believe how long Derek had been dating this girl for. He couldn't possibly love her anymore.

"I know this must be really hard to hear, but for that whole period in between Derek was completely devastated. For some reason, you never called, never wrote, not even a text message here or there to let him know how you were." Casey said with a sharp tongue.

Emily knew she deserved to be scolded like this because it was her fault. She loved Derek yet she just couldn't stay in touch and she knew it had to be the stupidest thing she had ever done.

"Does he know I'm back?" Emily meekly questioned.

"Well he saw the moving trucks in front of your house but I don't think he's seen anyone in your family or you for a matter of fact and our parents have mentioned anything." Casey replied.

"How about we just keep it that way until school starts up again? I just don't want to bombard him with my arrival while he has so many other important things going on in his life." Emily said with as strong a voice as she could. She had to make it seem like it didn't faze her or else she'd fall to pieces.

"Yeah sure no problem Em. Just don't try to avoid what will eventually have to happen. You know as well as I do that you're going to have to talk to him sooner or later. If anything to just smooth out the kinks and at least become friends if anything else." Casey said with her optimistic attitude.

They ate their food while talking about different things that happened over the past 2 years like how Casey and Max had almost broken up almost 6 times which seemed to be a record for Casey. Emily told Casey how she had made a couple friends but of course none that could ever compare to her friends back home.

After about an hour of talking and eating and reminiscing, they were headed back home where Emily still had tons of unpacking to do.

Casey pulled up in her driveway and Emily stepped out and around to hug Casey.

"Thanks for the brunch at Dillon's. It seems like forever since I was just able to hang out and relax and talk about nothing." Emily smiled to Casey.

"No worries Em. Now that you're back, our senior year will be THE BEST EVER!!!" Casey said as she jumped up and down.

"See you later Casey I'll talk to you later." Emily said as she spun on her heel only to be greeted with a sight she wasn't sure she could face again after the first time.

There was Derek and his new girlfriend Mia standing in front of her. Emily's heart jumped up into her throat as it began to beat furiously. Emily was at a loss for words but somehow managed, "Hey." With that she walked around and past them and made the fastest beeline for her front door ever.

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Ta-Da! So I think I might start Derek's point of view now to show everyone how he's been dealing. Hope you like and don't forget to review! I want to know what you think and whether this is a crap story and should just drop it all together or keep on keeping on. Alright, and Happy Halloween! 


	3. And Here We Go Again

Hello hello. Here is Chapter 3 which is supposed to be Derek's POV, but to be honest I had a somewhat hard time writing this /

So I hope you like it even if I don't..

**Disclaimer: I own everything except for Life With Derek. **Okay, maybe not EVERYTHING, but close to everything.

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Chapter 3 – And Here We Go Again

Derek woke up to what he hoped would be another eventful summer day. Everything was going good for him at the moment. He was prepping for the upcoming hockey season as team captain. Surprisingly, he had started to do better in classes so he hoped that would happen during his senior year. He now had a great girlfriend who was always there for him and helped him through some rough times.

The past year with Mia had been great considering what was going on before she came into his life. He had been dating Emily Davis for about a year which in Derek's book was a really big thing. Before he started dating Emily it was a 3-week limit for any girl but when he had finally gotten together with her it felt real. He didn't like to admit this to anyone because it would show a "weak" Derek and he wouldn't have that.

So they were having a really great year until she suddenly left. She left with a bare 'goodbye' on her lips as they drove away. Derek was devastated and the entire family knew it but they didn't want to show it. He understood why she left, but he couldn't understand why she never kept in touch. Did she not love him like he loved her?

After a year, Derek became tired of waiting to hear from her and just tired of waiting for her. If she couldn't muster up the courage to at least call him and say hello, then why should he? He finally thought it was just time to move on. Even if he didn't like to admit it, Emily still had a place in his heart but if she was gonna keep being distant, Derek thought it better to cast all his feelings for her aside.

As soon as he came to that realization, he was back on the dating scene. Once all the girls heard that Derek Venturi was back on the market they all came flocking to him from every angle. He gave himself a one-date rule. If the girl couldn't WOW him during the one date then the girl was history.

Girl after girl bored him to death and his friends and family kept trying to set him up just so they could see him happy again. Finally after 3 months on the search, he met Mia. Derek had driven Marti to some Children's Day Camp over winter break when he bumped into her.

"Smarti, come on it's only for a week." Derek pleaded with Marti as he tried to drag her into the community center.

"No Smerek! I just wanna go home and play there." Marti argued back.

"Come on Smarti, I'm sure it'll be – " Derek was saying right before he backed up into someone causing them to fall over. Derek slowly turned around when he came face to face with a beautiful girl.

"Oh crap, I'm sorry about that. Hey, let me help you up." Derek said as he offered his hand to the beautiful girl. "Hi, I'm Derek."

"Hi, I'm Mia and don't worry about it, I don't think I received any serious injuries." Mia laughed as she brushed off her pants.

"SMEREK! Come on, I see Ally inside. Hi, I'm Marti." Marti said as she extended her hand to the raven-haired girl talking to Derek.

"Hi Marti, I'm Mia and this is my little brother Alex." Mia said as she gestured to her little brother. Mia's timid brother gave a shy wave and hid behind his older sister. "How about you and Marti run along inside?" She said to her brother who started to shy away.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to my friends." Marti said as she grabbed the little boy's hand and ran inside the community center.

"Wow, you're sister is quite the outgoing person." Mia smiled.

"Yeah, well she gets it from her older bro." Derek smirked. "So I know we just met but since our little siblings are off to day camp how about we go for some coffee?"

"I guess it couldn't hurt." Mia smiled as she followed Derek to his car and they were off on their first date.

From that point on he spent most if not all his time with Mia. She was smart and caring, beautiful and there for him.

Derek was brought out from his reverie when he heard his phone ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey honey, what're you doing?" Mia asked.

"Just woke up, as I should every summer day."

"Derek, seriously, getting up at 11:00AM is not productive at all. You should have come with me to the animal shelter. The brand new puppies are sooo adorable." Derek laughed at how adorable yet compassionate Mia was about what she did. "Well I'm coming over now to drag your lazy butt out of bed and out."

"Hmm, well then you can drag me out of bed any day. I'll see you in a few."

"Alright see you in a bit." Mia said as she hung up. Derek hopped out of bed and went to dress up.

Twenty minutes later the doorbell rang and he heard Mia greet Nora. He went down the stairs to see Mia looking just as beautiful as ever.

"Hey there good looking." Derek said as he strode over to Mia and kissed her hello.

"Derek! Not in front of your family and I thought you hated PDA." Mia whispered so that no one else heard her.

"Don't worry no one's looking." Derek said as he went in for another kiss but Mia ducked her head so he ended up kissing a jacket on the coat rack. "Alright, alright I get it." Derek smirked. "Come on, let's go get lunch. See everyone later." Derek called out as he opened the door and followed Mia. Just as they were going down the front path, he saw Casey's car park out on the street in front of the house. Just as he was about to tease her as per usual, someone he wasn't expecting got out of the passenger side of the car.

Emily stepped out of Casey's car and looked straight on at Derek and Mia. Derek heard her quickly spit out a "Hey" and she rushed straight into her house. Derek stared at her retreating back longer than she should have before Mia started questioning.

"Was that Emily? Did you know she was back?" Mia asked over and over.

Derek's heart jumped into his throat as he tried to regain his composure. What was Emily doing back? Why didn't she let him know she was coming back? How long did Casey know?

"Yes that was Emily and no, I didn't know she was back." Derek answered swiftly as he turned to glare at Casey and turned back to Mia with a satisfying smile. "Let's not worry about that and go get lunch." Derek said as he tried to get Mia away from that subject.

"Alright, I guess." Mia said as she got into Derek's car.

Derek quickly rushed over to Casey and whispered, "When I get back, I expect to hear EVERYTHING. Did you know she was coming back? Tell me the truth."

Casey just shook her head. "No I didn't know. I actually saw her yesterday and called her this morning to see if she wanted to go have lunch with me. I swear I didn't know."

"Whatever, I'll just talk to you later." Derek said in a harsh tone before turning around and getting in the car.

"Hey, are you alright? You can tell me you know, I'd understand." Mia said as she touched Derek's hand.

Derek looked down at her hand and turned to face her. He really liked Mia and he knew she was so damn understanding, but he couldn't talk about it just yet. Not with her at least.

"Yeah, I'm fine just got taken by surprise, but everything's alright. So where to for lunch?" Derek said as he started the car.

As Derek drove away he turned to look at his rear view mirror and stared at Emily's house. She was back. After two fucking years, she was back and all she managed to say was 'hey'. His heart sank but he couldn't show that in front of Mia. Now all he could think of was where to go from here? Try to talk to Emily or forget about her and stay with Mia?

Derek drove on lost in thoughts as Mia was going on about some new program at the animal shelter but he couldn't help but tune her out as he kept on driving.

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So? Was it just as crappy as I thought it was? Please do tell me so in a **REVIEW!** I just love reading them so please send one in if you read any part of this story. Thanks a bunch and now off to work on Chapter 4! 


	4. First Day Blues

Sorry, I know it's been super super long. Things got busy for a bit, but now I'm back!

**Disclaimer: Life with Derek not mine.

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Emily stared up at her ceiling for what seemed like an eternity before she decided to get out of bed. The first day of senior year was hanging over her head but was minor as compared to the other things that were going on. Ever since she bumped into Derek and his new girlfriend that first time she went to great lengths to make sure they didn't cross paths again. At least not yet.

Emily pushed herself off her bed and slowly made her way to the bathroom thinking about the long day ahead of her. She was done getting ready in 45 minutes and now realized it was still a whole hour before school even started. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and thought that for her comeback she should look good. Real good. Good enough to make Derek drool.

"Morning honey. What are you doing down so early? Doesn't school start in an hour or so?" Emily's mom asked as she looked up from her newspaper. Emily went into the pantry and grabbed a granola bar and started to tear into it.

"Yeah, but you know what they say, 'early bird gets the worm.'" Emily blurted out not sure what she meant by that. "Alright I'm off see you later.

Emily chuckled to herself as she thought all of this knowing it sounded completely foolish and very stuck up. She grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs into the kitchen where her mom and dad were sitting, both reading a newspaper and drinking coffee.

"Have a good day." Emily's dad called out before she shut the door behind her. She took a quick scan of the front yards that joined and the front door that was only steps away to Derek's house. The coast was clear so Emily made a quick dash for her car. She wanted to take her sweet time getting to school seeing as she was in no particular hurry. Emily popped in a random CD she found in her glove box and turned up the volume. It was Kate Nash and Emily sang along to the song glad to hear an uptempo beat to start out her long and winding day.

_" My fingertips are holding_

_onto the cracks in our foundations,_

_and I know that I should let go but I can't."_

Was Emily still holding on? Of course she had, ever since the day she left and she still felt like punching herself for leaving Derek high and dry. Emily tried to come up with a logical reason for not keeping in touch but she came up with none. The first few months she found herself dialing his number and then hanging up. About a year after moving to New Mexico, Emily tried to move on thinking she was never going to move back. She dated a couple of guys, some winners, but more of them losers. To the guys that were actually decent, Emily would suddenly picture Derek's face on them and freak out.

Before she knew it, Emily pulled into the J.S. Thompson High parking lot where she parked in the first empty spot she saw and sat there with her car turned off.

"Time to face the music. It's now or never." Emily said to herself as she stepped out of her car and began walking into the main building. She remembered to stop by the main lobby where she walked over to the D table to pick up her class schedule. First class, grade 12 English & Literature. As she made her way to her English class, the halls slowly started to fill up with students drifting to the lobby to pick up their schedules. She arrived fifteen minutes early to her class and picked a seat near the door so she could easily leave if she needed to.

People began pouring in as the time neared 8 o'clock. Suddenly a familiar looking brunette popped into the room and instantly spotted Emily making her way over.

_'Great, great his girlfriend is coming over here. Mandy or whatever her name is.'_ Emily thought to herself as Mia started walking over to Emily and sitting down at the desk right next to her.

"Hi, Emily right? Sorry I don't think we've been properly introduced, but I'm Mia." Mia said as she extended her arm in an attempt to shake Emily's hand. Emily warily stuck her hand out and shook hands with Mia.

"Nice to meet you Mia." Emily forced out while trying to plaster some sort of smile on her face.

"I hope this isn't weird or anything, but I've always wanted to meet you. I mean Derek used to talk about you so much." Mia stated.

Emily shrunk back in her chair as she heard Mia say, 'used to talk about you.' Granted, that meant he was talking about her but after awhile he had forgotten her, swept her away like an old memory that was no longer of use to him.

"No, that's not weird at all. I mean you were curious." Emily attempted to smile back but was sure it came out to be some sort of mutated smile. The bell suddenly rang as Emily silently thanked the bell because she wasn't sure how much more conversation she could have with this girl. It was honestly too early in the morning to deal with this and have to see her every day until the end of the year. It was also so damn hard to try and not like this girl because she was so damn nice and likeable.

As soon as the period was over, Emily tried to quickly dart out of the room and hurry over to her next class without interruption. Like that would be happening. Emily smacked right into the person she least felt like seeing. She looked up into those dark chocolate eyes that lost her everytime she gazed up at him. Emily quickly regained her composure and stepped back a couple of steps while straightening out her sweater.

"Hi." She said meekly as she averted her gaze to some lockers to her right.

"Hi." Derek replied just as softly before Mia came rushing up to him and hugged him.

"Hey honey, guess what? Me and Emily both have English together!" Mia exclaimed as she looked from Emily to Derek and then back to Emily.

"Yeah, that's great." Derek said sensing the awkardness.

"Yeah, it's cool. Well I better get on to my next class, see you guys later." Emily piped out quickly before speed walking down the hallway to her next class.

Emily cursed to herself and cursed the fact that she not only was going to see that Mia every day for the rest of the year, but that it would be a constant reminder to herself that Derek was with someone else. Someone that made him happy, probably happier than she had ever made him.

Emily looked down at her schedule to see Chemistry was next so she made her way to the room trying not to be late. She entered the room to see a couple of people seated so she took a seat by the door if another quick getaway was needed. The rest of her day dragged on endlessly and she quickly made her way through the halls to her classes.

At lunch time, Emily stopped at her locker when she finally spotted Casey.

"Hey Casey. You will not believe the day I've been having."

"Hm, let me guess. You bumped into Derek and then you bumped into Derek and Mia." Casey replied as she stuffed her books into her locker.

"Well, worse. I have first period English with Mia and she is trying to pull off this act like she wants to become my new best friend. This is totally her way of sizing me up." Emily ranted.

"Em, don't worry about her, it's only going to make you more angry. Come on, let's get lunch and talk about something else." Casey said as she guided Emily along to the cafeteria.

Emily and Casey sat down and began eating their lunch while playing catch-up. Emily told Casey about all her adventures and non-adventures in New Mexico. She told Casey about the guys she briefly dated and how goofy some of them were. The lunch bell rang and the girls both headed to their World History class which turned out to be a total bore.

The last period of the day and Emily was anxiously waiting to get out before she endured another encounter with Derek and Miss Happy-all-the-freakin'-time-Mia.

She walked in to her French class where she greeted the teacher before taking a sideline seat as usual. Class was just about to start when someone abruptly entered the classroom and took a seat next to Emily. Emily looked up, and of course, low and behold, it was Derek, showing up late and of course, sitting in the seat next to her.

They made friendly eye contact before listening intently to their teacher.

"Bonjour class. Je m'appelle Madame Martin. Je suis votre professeur français cette année .And just in case you did not catch that, I am your french teacher for the year. This is French 3 so I am assuming that all of you know a little French. What I would like for you all to do is partner up and practice some basic conversational French. Allez, allez."

Emily knew she was going to end up partnering up with Derek so why not face the music. She turned to Derek just as he turned to her. "Well bonjour partner."

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I thought I should end there so I could hype up the excitement for the next chapter. This is pretty much a filler chapter until the ball really gets rolling. Read & Review! 


	5. Face the Music

**Disclaimer: I don't own LWD.

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**Chapter 5 – Face the Music 

"Bonjour Derek." Emily said as she tried to avert his gaze by looking around the room.

"Come on Emily, I'm not that ugly am I?" Derek said trying to break the ice. He was feeling that awkward tension which shouldn't exist between them. He also couldn't understand why _she_ was giving him the cold shoulder, when _she_ was the one to leave.

"Of course not, sorry I was just preoccupied with something. So um, comment allez-vous?" Emily asked still afraid to actually make eye contact with Derek.

"Um, je suis okay?" Derek said not even sure how he got so far in French.

"I think you meant to say "Très bien." Emily replied.

"Right, right, très bien." Derek said. "Well what about you?

"What about me?" Emily replied and finally looked up at Derek. She was lost immediately as he stared down at her with those piercing brown eyes.

"Uh, comment allez-vous?"

"Comme ci comme ça." Emily replied quietly.

"Seriously Emily, wha-" Derek tried asking Emily what her deal was before their teacher interrupted.

"Très bonne, oui, oui. Let's get started on some quick conjugations of the imparfait verbs." Their teacher went on and on for the rest of the period so Derek couldn't find time to try and talk to Emily again. He thought about how now would be an inappropriate time anyways.

Before they knew it, the final bell had rung and just as Derek spun around to ask Emily if she wanted to talk or something after school, she once again had disappeared into thin air. Derek rubbed his temples as he began to feel more and more frustrated as Emily kept disappearing when all he wanted to do was talk to her.

Emily made a quick dash to her locker where she saw Casey standing at hers.

"Hey Em, you look a little out of breath? What's up?

"I have French with Derek. Why can't I just talk to him Case? Why do I have to freeze up and go all jelloid?"

"Well this would be your, what, second or third time being around him since you got back? OF course all those feelings you had from long ago come rushing back and now that you have to face him everyday you're just gonna have to get use to that." Casey said

"I guess, I mean I know I'm going to have to talk to him one day, but let's save it for another day. Well I wanna get out of here before I see him or his girlfriend." Emily said that last word with much disdain so she said her goodbyes and left quickly.

Just as Emily left, Casey heard her name being called out. "Casey! Hey, where'd she go?" Derek said as he semi-stormed down the hallway.

"What, oh it's you. What do you want?" Casey replied.

"Where'd Emily go?" Derek said clearly showing his frustration.

"She just left. What's your deal anyway? You usually aren't the one to go storming after the girl, isn't it vice versa?" Casey inquired as she saw Derek begin to squirm.

"Whatever, never mind. Why don't you go write a poem or hug a tree or something." Derek said as he once again stormed off.

Emily and Casey had just stepped into the Sidepark Café when Casey began drilling Emily with more and more questions before she could even sip on her coffee.

"Come on Emily, you can't go running from him forever. I bumped into him right after you left and he seemed frantic, well not frantic per se, but he was looking somewhat agitated."

"Yeah I know, I guess maybe today I'll call him and see if he wants to 'talk' or whatever. I mean, if you were me, what would you even say?" Emily questioned knowing she was unsure what she would do.

"Well if it were me, I wouldn't have disappeared into thin air without so much as a goodbye. But then again, that's just me Em."

"Thanks Case, really helping here." Emily said as she shot her friend a mini glare.

"I mean, well I would apologize. It only seems the right thing to do." Casey stared at Emily forcing her to look up. "You owe it to him Em, you owe him big time. I mean, I guess he's my step-brother and well we still have our differences, but just as a normal guy, he's heartbroken just as much as the next guy."

"Fine, you made a point. I'll call, alright? Wow Casey is that you showing compassion for Derek's feelings?" Emily started to giggle.

"Of course not, when do I ever, I mean it's not like he returns the favor anyways and plus I think it's about time he stop sulking around the house."

"Alright, well do you mind if I try to go talk to him now?"

"Sure, I gotta get started on homework anyways." Casey said as they got up to leave and made the ride back home.

Emily began fidgeting in her seat hoping that she had the courage to talk to Derek. Why couldn't she do it? She really needed to get over her nervousness and anxiety. Casey rounded the corner and in seconds they were in front of their houses. Emily slowly got out of the car and trailed behind closely. Casey opened up the door and said hello to everyone in the house and immediately, Emily tensed up when she heard Derek shout out some insult or whatnot at her. Emily finally pushed herself in through the front door where she saw Derek in that favorite chair of his.

"Um, hi." Emily said as she stood at the front door. She noticed Edwin and Lizzie were in the room with Derek, but they go the clue to get out before anything happened.

"Uh, hi. I didn't expect to see you here." Derek said as he got out of his chair and walked up to Emily.

"Yeah, well I just thought, enough of me being chicken and I just wanted to talk to you. Uh, are you busy right now?" Emily asked as she looked up to him noticing he did get taller since she had last seen him 2 years ago.

"No, I , uh, I'm not busy. Do you wanna go over to Smellie Nellie's or something?" Derek said as he stared down at Emily.

"Actually, would you mind a walk to the park? I think I've been over-caffeinated today anyways."

"Yeah, sure, let me grab my jacket." Derek said as he reached for his jacket and opened up the door for Emily.

They began their slow steady walk to the park that was about a couple blocks away. At first, it did prove to be a little quiet and tense but finally they picked up a conversation and went with the flow.

"Team captain now eh? Well I knew you weren't that good for no reason." Emily teased as she smiled up at Derek.

"But of course, I am the best and will always be the best. Well maybe not forever, but for awhile I am the king!" Derek exclaimed feeling more loosened up.

They finally got to the park where they took up residence on the swings.

"Remember when we would just waste entire afternoons on these swings? I still feel like I could do this forever." Emily said as she pushed herself up higher and higher. Derek turned his head to look at her after she said this noticing a slight tinge of sadness in her words.

"Yeah, those were fun days. What happened?" Derek blatantly said it not wanting to wait to hear an explanation from her any longer.

"Well it's simple. I mean well the reason for moving was because my grandma got sick so we went to go take care of her." Emily said as she stared down onto the ground and she was trying to think up of some kind of logical reason. "And well the not keeping in touch part, I thought it would just be so hard on both of us. I thought that would make it easier by not saying anything.

"That obviously didn't work. I was here Em, waiting to hear from you, I mean you didn't even call Casey and she's your best friend, or so you claim, I mean what is this all about? Did you even think of me while you were gone? Were there other guys?" Derek said as he slowed down his swing.

"Of course I thought of you, every day. I thought I was never going to come back and I didn't want to have to think of you if I couldn't see you again." Emily almost shouted but tried to keep a tame voice. "You think it was easy for me too? Sulking around my grandma's house, stuck in a school where no one seemed nice at all and just living this brand new boring life. Yeah Derek, that sounds like me partying it up over there." Emily said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Don't try and turn it around to make it all about you. If I knew where you were going I would have tried." Derek tried to fight back. They both stood up off the swings and faced each other as they tried to "talk" things out.

"Would you Derek? Would you really have tried? Come on, I'm sure a week after I left you were already thinking of which cheerleader you hadn't dated yet. No need to lie Derek, I've known you your whole life and not once, have you ever broken habit." Emily screamed out with tears pooling in her eyes. "But that doesn't matter now anyways. I mean you have Mia and I wonder how long that took till you got with her."

Both Derek and Emily were steaming with anger and before Derek was about to say something Emily cut him off one last time.

"I don't think this, whatever we had is ever gonna work. I just don't think I could be your friend either so goodbye Derek." Emily said as she full on began to cry and once again ran off and disappeared.

Derek was furious that she just ended things that way. She didn't even want to try and be friends and he thought they were going to have a nice, catch-up kind of talk. Derek wasn't sure of what to make of the situation since he was still just too mad to think about it. After about 5 minutes of trying to cool down, he finally made his way home, alone.

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So I know, I know this is very out of character for Derek to be so emotional and whatnot, and I try to stay true to the character, but the story just brings them to life. So review away, or not, but please do! 


	6. What's a Girl to Do?

Chapter 6 – What's A Girl to Do?

Emily felt like she had been running for hours as she made her way back home. She angrily opened the front door and slammed it behind her as she made a beeline for her room where she once again slammed the door behind her.

Anger and sadness were running through her veins as she paced her room. It wasn't supposed to end like that. It wasn't even supposed to end. Emily did want to talk to Derek and sort everything out and she even would become his friend if that's what it took, but now it was all shot down.

Emily felt like she couldn't think straight and dropped off onto her bed where she dozed off sometime after crying herself to sleep.

She woke up several hours later feeling very groggy. Emily made a grab for her phone and saw she had a couple of missed calls hoping that at least one of them was from Derek. Sad to say, they were all from Casey so she sat up and called her back.

"Hello? Hey Em, where have you been? I thought you went out for a walk with Derek and next thing I know he comes storming through the front door and shuts himself up in his room."

"Oh, well I guess our talk didn't really go as planned. We were just starting to open up and next thing I know we were arguing and I yelled out something along the lines of 'whatever we had isn't going to work and I can't be your friend.' What was I thinking Casey? The point was to be his friend, not to lose him completely. Now of course he'll go running back to that miss goody two-shoes, no offense."

"None taken, but shouldn't you be trying harder? At least just trying to keep his friendship?" Casey questioned. Emily pondered this and realized that of course, Casey was right, but how exactly would she go about getting back on his good side after she made it clear that she couldn't care less for his friendship.

"I know, I know, but I guess now I kind of have to sit back and wait." Emily said as she turned her attention to the window where she heard some noise. She looked down to see Mia and Derek kissing. Emily felt her cheeks getting hot as she cursed them for looking so happy and cursed Derek especially for bouncing back so quickly. "Ugh, I can't believe them." Emily roared into the phone.

"What's bugging you now?" Casey asked.

"Miss Goody-Two Shoes and Derek are totally making out on your porch. UGH, they're gonna be everywhere all the time, together and how am I supposed to befriend him with her attached to his side?" Emily sighed into the phone feeling very aggravated at the moment. She was contemplating another walk for some fresh air, but that would entail her to leave the house and see up closer Derek and his girlfriend being all lovey-dovey. That, she would have to pass on.

"Then you'll just have to sit and wait. And stop looking out your window! I know you are Em."

Emily glanced down one more time to see the happy couple gone.

"I'm gonna go do my homework now and maybe catch some early sleep. I'll see you tomorrow Casey." Emily said as she yawned.

"Sure thing, I have to get caught up on homework too. See you tomorrow Em." Casey responded before they both hung up on the phone.

Emily sat down at her desk and started to look over her French homework. _French class._ She had that with Derek, she would have all the chances in the world to talk to him then. To say that she was acting irrational and that they could still be friends. It was a sure plan, or so Emily thought hoping that he wouldn't begin to ignore her.

"Come on, just do your homework!" Emily exclaimed but suddenly felt embarrassed for talking to herself. There was a sudden knock at her door followed by the sound of Emily's mom checking in.

"Hey honey, still doing homework?" Emily's mom asked.

"Unfortunately, but I'm almost done." Emily smiled weakly at her mom.

"How has everything else been? I heard you slamming doors from left to right earlier. Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. It's just a little hard to adjust back to life here. I mean I guess we weren't gone that long, but long enough." Emily said as she stared out her window.

Her mom began to understand silently that it must have something to do with Derek.

"Don't worry honey, everything works itself out in due time. Don't stress yourself too much. Now go to bed, it's getting late. Good night Emily." Her mom said as she walked out the room and closed the door behind her.

Emily sighed down into her pillow and decided it was time to sleep away her crappy day.

The sun was shining down on Emily as she woke up the next day to the sound of her alarm clock automatically hoping that her day would be alright. She was running a little late but managed to pull into the parking lot just in time. The halls were still full of students so she knew she couldn't be that late. As soon as she entered her class she took a seat only to be seated next to Mia.

"Hey Emily, how's it going?" Mia asked with a smile.

"Oh, hi Mia. It's good." Emily said behind her fake smile.

"I know this might be weird for you considering our situation concerning Derek, but just know I can be your friend too."

"Geeze, why do you have to be so nice? It makes it harder to hate you." Emily said with a small laugh.

They both smiled at each other as they turned their attention to the teacher. Emily thought would it be weird to be good friends with Mia?

The rest of the day seemed to drag on as usual until things came too fast when Emily was standing in front of the French classroom. She entered, taking a seat in the mid-left area, and taking notice that he wasn't in class yet.

Class went on and Emily would glance over at the door and into the hallway and saw it was empty. Emily began to think that Derek wasn't even going to bother coming to class when suddenly he swept in and sat abruptly in a seat towards the very back of the room. It happened to be a seat as far away from Emily as possible.

"Bonjour Monsieur Venturi, care to be on time tomorrow, s'il vous plait?" Madame Martin said as she spun on her heel and began writing something up on the board.

Emily looked back at Derek and frowned realizing that he couldn't even sit by her. She thought to herself that now, he was just being childish.

Class seemed to carry on even slower than usual and since Derek had moved to another part of the classroom, she was stuck with Cynthia Rowley who appeared to spew out a couple of cups worth of spit every time she talked. The bell finally rang relieving Emily of the worst class period ever.

Emily slummed her way over to her locker as she wearily spun the dial and swung her locker open.

"Em, why so down?" Casey said as she approached her good friend.

"Come on Case, do I really have to tell you?" Emily stated glumly as they started walking out to the parking lot.

"Do you want me to talk to him? Because I will, you know I will. I'll just make him realize that he is acting like a baby!" Casey said as she began to get worked up.

"Calm down Casey, it's my fault anyway, so no need to go lecturing him. Well I guess I'm just gonna go home and do homework or something so I'll talk to you later Case." Emily said as she trudged to her car and left the parking lot.

Casey was still making her way over to her car when an idea popped into her head. If it worked, Emily could be happy again and she wouldn't have to go moping around.

She was excited with her brand new plan: Operation Get Emily Happy. She dialed a number and began driving towards her destination.

**I know it's been an extremely long time but bear with me. Hopefully this is a good one...and I know it's just a smidgen shorter than usual. I will seriously try harder to update sooner. Seriously. If not, you should stop reading this. Oh, just kidding, don't stop reading my dear story!! Alright, read, review, and I hope you enjoy.**


	7. The Operation Begins

Chapter 7 – The Operation Begins

Derek had time to cool off or so he thought was enough time. He had tried to avoid Emily at all costs for about a week now and so far, so good.

He knew he was being childish by completely ignoring her, but in his defense, he was honoring her word by not being friends at all. Why were girls so damn frustrating?

Derek was fumbling through his hockey gear as the doorbell reverberated throughout the entire house. Next thing he knew, he heard girl voices animatedly chatting away near the door and immediately thought it would be Casey and Emily. Great, he couldn't leave the house now with her blocking the only clear exit.

After a quick self powwow, Derek decided to take a quick peek down the stairwell to see if it was indeed the girl herself. To his dismay or relief, he wasn't quite sure, was actually Mia and Casey who seemed to be scheming together.

Derek cleared his throat unnecessarily loud as he got the attention of the two females who were still talking excitedly.

"Geeze, am I interrupting something?"

"Hey honey, of course not, me and Casey were planning a little something, you know girl stuff." Mia said as she gave Derek a quick peck on the cheek.

"Really Casey, no need to brainwash my girlfriend, I'm sure you have other little friends you can order around."

"Ha, ha Derek so funny that I almost didn't laugh." Casey said with sarcasm dripping through till the last syllable.

"Don't worry Derek, don't you have a hockey game you were going to anyways? I can catch up with you later, but for now, we are in full planning mode." Mia said sweetly.

"Now, may I ask what exactly you two are in full planning mode for?" Derek questioned.

"For your information, it is none of your business. Seriously Derek, go to your hockey game." Casey insisted quite forcefully.

Being pushed away only ignited his curiosity as to what they were talking about. Could it be another surprise birthday party? Nopes, it wasn't anywhere near his birthday so that ruled out.

"Well, if you must know, we're planning a mini speed-dating party for Emily. We think it's high time that she get herself back out there and more involved. Plus, she should be happier. We don't want to bombard her with date after date so we'll make it seem like it's just some regular weekend party." Mia beamed as though it was the brightest idea since the light bulb.

"Oh right, for Emily. Yeah, that sounds cool. Well I guess I'll be off. Don't get yourself too worked up." Derek said as he kissed Mia on the cheek and left abruptly.

As Derek drove to his hockey practice he couldn't help but feel a slight tinge of jealousy coursing through his veins. He was the ex-boyfriend so it's not like he could act as nonchalantly as he wished he could. There was bound to be some conflict soon enough and now there it was, in the form of a speed-dating party set up by none other than Miss-Little-Perfect Casey and his current girlfriend Mia.

Could there be anything more awkward?

Derek arrived at the hockey rink minutes later. He suited up and set out on the ice and greeted the rest of the hockey team.

"Ey yo D, party at your house Saturday?" His teammate Ed called out as they skated into formation.

"Yeah how'd you hear about that?" Derek asked questioningly.

"Right before I got here, I got a call from Casey saying there was a big party so of course I said, hell yeah." Ed replied enthusiastically.

Derek smile back apprehensively but skated in circles as he thought, 'Emily can't date Ed, he's a total jerk.' Derek could think all the things he wanted, but he knew his word wouldn't matter. He was the ex-boyfriend and ex-boyfriends never got a word in edgewise when the topic on hand is their ex-girlfriend's romantic future.

Derek played harder than usual today as his pent up frustration reared its ugly head out on the ice. He wished there was some way to get the Emily conflict off his mind but he didn't want to see her pushed into the arms of someone else, someone he might know, right before his eyes. Granted, he couldn't say much because he had moved on.

Emily was twirling her pencil in her hand as she tried to finish up her math homework. She couldn't wrap her head around integrals and derivatives for much longer so she headed down to grab a snack. Just as she began going down the stairs, Casey busted through her front door in a clearly happy mood.

"Em! Guess what, guess what?!" Casey said as she appeared to be jumping up and down.

"What Case?" Emily questioned unsure of what Casey was going to say.

"I got my parents to say yes to throw a party at my house this Saturday. And this time, they won't be there!" Casey exclaimed.

"Wow Casey, I didn't think you to be the party type. Usually at all the parties Derek has tried to throw at your house, you throw a little fit about how irresponsible it is." Emily explained.

"I know, I know, but let bygones be bygones and let's party!" Emily was confused because it's like Casey decided to do a total 180 of her personality and for what reason? Something seemed fishy and knowing Casey, she was behind it.

"Right, so this party, is just a party? Just a good old fashioned, parents aren't home, let's dance the night away, cute guys everywhere party?"

"Exactly. We could all use a little fun in our lives, especially you Em. Think about the party as your welcome back party if anything." Casey beamed.

"Right, welcome back party. How about you just keep it as the good old fashioned teenage party that has no particular theme involved?" Emily said while trying to read Casey's expressions to see if there was an ulterior motive to the party, which frankly she saw nothing but pure excitement.

"Okay well I just wanted to let you know. I have to get back home and finish organizing the party. You wouldn't believe how much work has to be put into it." Casey said as she shook her head while leaving Emily's house. "I'll call you more about it later Em." Casey shouted out behind her as she hurried back to her house.

Derek had just scored another goal when he heard the familiar cheer from out in the seats. At some point Mia had came in to watch, but Derek had failed to notice. From the moment that he heard Mia was going to help Casey plan a speed dating party for Emily he had felt torn. Part of him wanted to stop the party before they finished planning it yet he felt that it was no longer his place to do that.

The coach finally blew the whistle that signaled the end of practice. Derek skated off the ice and was immediately greeted by Mia.

"Hi honey, sorry I was shooing you out early. This is going to be so much fun though. Emily won't know what hit her." Mia beamed as she spoke.

"Yeah, sounds like a blast." Derek did his best to hide his discomfort.

"I know this is kind of weird, considering you and Emily's situation before, but I think it's for the best that she moves on too. Now that you two are friends, it's what you want for her too right?"

"Of course, she should be happy too." Derek replied.

"Come on, let's go back to your place. I promised Casey I would finish helping her put everything together."

They arrived back at Derek's house shortly after and found Casey organizing papers like crazy while balancing not one, but two phones to her ears.

"So you're both single right? Alright then, well just submit your resume via this fax number and I'll give it a read through, thank you both for calling." Casey said as she hung up both phones. Derek looked at her like she was crazy. Was this really the right way to find guys to come to this thing?

"Wow Casey, you can't even ask guys out the right way. Was that really necessary to have them FAX over a resume? I knew it from the beginning, you are delusional." Derek said as he looked over his organized-ridden step-sister.

"I'm just being safe. I mean, I don't want to set Em up with some crazy nut job."

"You are the crazy nut job." Derek mumbled under his breath.

"Anyways, hey Mia thanks for coming back. So I've found at least 20 guys that were worthy enough to come to the party. It should be a total blast." Casey exclaimed as she shoved a stack of papers towards Mia's way.

"I am getting so excited! I've never gotten to plan a party before, Emily is going to freak!" Mia said as she smiled over at Derek.

"Alright, well Mom and Dad are leaving for the weekend and taking Marti with them. Edwin and Lizzie are gonna sleep over their friends house so we are good on all that." Casey beamed.

"I still can't believe they let YOU throw a party and even leave you home alone for it to happen." Derek complained.

"Well Derek, there are a few things that separate me from you. First of all, I am completely responsible, unlike you, and I have always shown respect, also unlike you, and finally I've proven myself to be very mature, which is very unlike you. So there, three reasons why I can be trusted to have a party and you can't. HA!" Casey exclaimed in Derek's face.

"Alright, alright Miss Perfect I get it. So what do you expect? To have all these guys here and just shove them over to Emily one by one?" Derek questioned.

"Of course not Derek, we wouldn't want to corner Emily like that. There will be a lot of people present and it'll seem like a normal party but we will tell all the potential candidates that they have 5 minutes to chat up Emily and then they subtly switch out and a new guy comes in. It'll be as if its any other random guy just going up to Emily except there will be at least 15 random guys instead of the one." Mia said as she looked to Casey for approval.

Derek still didn't like the feeling he had in the pit of his stomach. He knew it would only get worse if he didn't find a way to get rid of this stupid feeling. Derek Venturi never got this way over a girl especially one who clearly expressed her feelings on the matter. He needed to stop being such a little sissy and he had to do it soon.

Derek had enough of all the party talk and excused himself out of the room. "I'm feeling a little tired, so I'm just gonna take a nap or something. Hey Casey, do you mind bringing Mia home?" Derek asked.

"Yeah yeah sure, now go and get out of here so we can finalize all the details." Casey snapped back.

"Well I'll call you later alright? Hope you have a good nap." Mia said as she got up and kissed Derek.

"Alright, I'll talk to you later." Derek replied before making his way up to the bedroom.

As Derek lay in bed, he tried to think about how he felt when he kissed Mia just now. There was still that spark between them. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like if he tried to break up with her and plus she didn't deserve that. Not after how great she had treated him and how much he could see how she cared about him.

Suddenly Derek's mind inadvertently wandered over to someone else's kiss and what that felt like. There was more than a spark, it was an entire jolt that usually left him wanting more on the spot. His eyes closed and he saw those chocolate brown eyes that haunted him while she was gone and how he thought he would never see them again.

Derek jerked his eyes open and stared at the ceiling trying to forget, move on, or just something different from what he was doing now. When he closed his eyes there were those same brown eyes staring him down before he finally drifted off to sleep.

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Alright, alright I know. I took long enough to update but things are busy, busy, busy. I'll do my best to get the next chapter out sooner...really. Anywho keep reading and reviewing and enjoying!


	8. It's My Party & I'll Kiss Who I Want To

**Okay, to be honest, I know I don't update as much as I want to and I am super sorry about that. Other than that, I can only say that I'll update when I can but thanks thanks thanks to all of you who read it =]**

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Chapter 8 – It's My Party & I'll Kiss Who I Want To

Emily woke up to the sounds of Saturday morning cartoons blasting away on the TV downstairs courtesy of her little brother Dimmy. She cursed little kids for waking up so damn early just to watch TV which was bad for them anyway.

Her cell phone's vibrating noise startled her as she got up out of bed. She picked up her cell phone to see a text from Casey. She opened up and saw:

"Hey Em wanna go to the mall later? I could use some new clothes. Text back."

Shopping did seem like a great distraction at the moment. If anything, she could use distractions to take her away from whatever was going on in her life. It seemed to be that her routine at the moment was school, home, school, home, somewhere with Casey, home, school. She didn't feel like going out on the weekends like she usually did which Casey began to find extremely unusual. If anything, Emily was always on top of what social events were the place to be and which ones weren't. Nowadays Emily only mumbled if Casey asked her if there were any happening parties.

Emily texted Casey back:

"Sure Case, meet you out front in a bit. Let me know when you're ready."

Emily headed straight for the bathroom and began to get ready. She felt like she shouldn't waste her time today. It felt like a new day, a better day so best not to waste it while this feeling lasted. She made a pit stop at her room to grab her purse and phone and she was off to breakfast.

"Morning Mom, I'm gonna go out with Casey for a bit." Emily said as she began to pour herself a cup of OJ.

"Morning honey, it's good to see you out and about. Where are you two off to today?" Emily's mom asked while sipping her coffee. Little did Emily know, her mom was in on the plan for her little speed dating party. While Emily was gone one day this week, Casey had popped over and alerted Emily's mom to the special little shindig she was throwing together for Emily. Her mom smiled at Casey's strong will to make Emily happy and happily nodded her head as Casey relayed the details quickly before dashing out as quickly as she entered.

"We're just going off to the mall, do some shopping." Emily said as she grabbed a granola bar out of the pantry.

"That sounds fun, well go and have fun honey." Emily's mom said as she smiled at her daughter.

Emily scattered out of the kitchen in a quick attempt to get her day started worry-free. Waiting outside of her car was Casey tapping her foot, an annoying habit she had.

"Hey Em, ready to go shopping?" Casey exclaimed a bit too excitedly.

"Um, yeah sure Case. Wow, you never get so excited from shopping. So anyway, how many people are you expecting tonight?"

"Well, I invited some people from the Drama club like Noel and his friends, and well Mia invited some people and then there's the entire hockey team and you know, some random friends of friends." Casey said as she picked up a dress from the rack. "Ooh, Em, this dress totally suits you."

Casey handed it to Emily and she gave it the once over. "Wow, this is like, really dressy. Is the party supposed to be this dressy?"

"What are you talking about Em, it is not even that dressy and plus I think you would look totally cute in it. At least try it on, yeah?" Casey said as she scoured the racks for more things to push Emily into.

"Fine, fine, I mean it is a cute dress." Emily said. She wondered if the dress could get her a boyfriend tonight. Hmm…well then she would definitely try it on for sure.

Two hours later, the girls emerged from the mall, shopping bags in hand and ready to get home.

"Okay Em, I'll just help to shoo everyone who doesn't need to be there out of my house and then you can start getting ready and then I'll call you. See you in a bit!" Casey exclaimed as she jumped out of the car and headed into her house, shopping bags in tow.

Emily made her way back to her house and fumbled up the steps as she struggled to get her door open. When she finally did get back to her room she collapsed on her bed. These past few weeks had put an emotional strain on her.

She didn't expect too much when she came back but then again she didn't want to be completely ignored. It tore at her every day to see Derek and not have him respond to her in any way. It hurt her even more to see Mia bouncing about in his arms. She subconsciously wrapped her arms around her in a protective hold as she thought about trying to protect herself from the world's harshness.

A little beep from her clock signaled it was 5:30. She wondered where did all the time go to but she dragged herself out of bed and unwrapped the new dress she had just bought. By slipping on the dress, she felt a bit more empowered. She felt just enough to get her up and out of that slump she was in and hurried along her getting ready process.

By the time six o'clock rolled around Emily was making her way next door where Casey was already waiting.

"Oh my gosh Em, you look absolutely terrific." Casey beamed at her.

"You don't have to exaggerate, I look okay, not terrific. But anyways, besides me, are your parents and siblings gone already?" Emily said as she stepped inside the house.

"Yes, everyone is gone and we have the place to ourselves, well with the exception of some guests but I still cannot believe they left me all alone. I mean well I can believe it because I am the responsible one but anyways, yeah I'm so excited." Casey had said a mouth full but Emily's eyes began to scan what she could see of the house to see if a certain Venturi boy was lingering.

"Hey Emily! Wow, you look amazing." Of course he was here, and of course SHE was here. She being Mia that is.

"Thanks Mia, you look great too." Emily replied with a polite smile as she held her hands together in front of her.

"So Casey, all the soda, cups, snacks, plates, napkins and other whatnots are already laid out on the kitchen counter. I locked up all the valuables and now we just wait right?" Mia said almost jumping up and down in her place.

"That seems to be right about it. Now we just wait for the guests." Casey replied as she smoothed out her shirt.

Not even 5 minutes later the doorbell began its repetitive ringing as people showed up on groups and groups and more groups. Emily noticed that guy Noel and all his cute drama club friends as well as the entire hockey, basketball and football teams. Yum-O. There were also random hot guys who were chatting it up with friends while bobbing their heads to the music. So many guys here, Emily thought, except for the one that really mattered.

Emily did wonder where Derek was. He never missed out on a party especially if it was a house party knowing full and well his parents were seriously gone. She only thought it up too soon as she saw him descending the stairs with Mia in tow as usual. His hair was gently swept over his eyes and she almost walked into someone had she not dropped her gaze.

A second later she felt Casey tugging on her arm to try and mingle and not focus on Derek. Casey seemed extra snappier today but she took her advice and got a drink and then attempted to "mingle" which in fact all she was doing was slowly pacing through the house.

Out of nowhere a guy approached Emily. She quickly gave him the once-over and decided she knew a few things about this guy already. First, his eyes looked bloodshot, can you say how HIGH? Second of all, why were there serious stains all over this guy's clothes? Finally, he may have a semi-cute smile but that in no way made up for the way he smelled. Seriously, was this all that was out there.

Before he even finished saying hello she politely nodded, replied hello, and ran off in the other direction. She tried to catch her breath as she steadied herself against a couch. Emily only had to slightly lift her head up to notice another guy making his way toward her. He seemed decent-looking, no apparent stains on anywhere noticeable, he looked quite clean-cut and tall which was nice.

"Hello, I'm Jonathan and you are?" Jonathan said as he extended his hand.

"Hi, I'm Emily." Emily responded as she shook his hand. He let it linger a bit longer before retracting his hand. She didn't seem to mind those extra seconds one bit.

"So I hear you're single and ready to mingle?" Jonathan said as he took a sip from the drink in his hand. Emily found this ridiculously cheesy and realized he could probably be the ridiculously cheesy type which Emily was certainly not fond of.

"Well sorry but you heard wrong." Emily gave him a wry smile before wandering off. Were there any sane guys? Emily felt a little remorse from when she had put Casey up to a situation like this. No girl should have to stoop so low just to find a boyfriend.

It was then that the little light bulb in Emily's brain lit up. This wasn't just your old run of the mill teenage party, but it was some sort of dating game. She silently cursed Casey for doing this to her but then again she couldn't say anything because she did the same thing to Casey. That would clearly explain all these less than average guys trying their best to seduce her. She would definitely kill Casey.

Emily was pouring punch into her cup when she was knocked out of her reverie by a tap on her shoulder. She swirled around half expecting to see another Joe Schmoe but was face to face with none other than Mia.

"Hey Emily, having fun?" Mia asked sweetly. Emily quickly contemplated if Mia was in on this whole set-up-Emily thing and had a strong feeling in her gut that she was.

"I'm doing alright. I keep getting hit on by creepy guys which is a bit of a mood killer but other than that the party seems to be a hit."

"Oh, that's unfortunate. You would think there are some decent guys here. Don't worry Emily, Mr. Right is somewhere here." Mia offered.

'_Yeah, Mr. Right happens to be your boyfriend.' _Emily thought though she pushed it far away in her mind knowing that was done and over.

"Right, well I'm off to mingle some more." Emily said as she gave her best fake smile and walked off into the crowd. She hadn't walked that far when she suddenly became aware of every guy at this party. Were they all here to have their go at Emily? It tugged at her insides and she frowned downwards feeling the need to escape.

After a quick scan of her immediate surroundings she ducked through the front door and escaped to sit under the tree that separated her lawn from theirs. She took in the natural beauty that was a clear Canadian night and she relished in how beautiful the moon looked. If only she had someone to share this with.

For a few more moments, Emily closed her eyes and just took in nature as it was, unaffected by such stupid things as love and boys. The front door came closing with a slam and she jumped up from where she sat. She tried to get a good look at what caused the ruckus and immediately regretted it.

Emily stood up from where she sat and quickly yet quietly tried to cross the lawn and loop around through the backyard without being seen by Derek or Mia. She used up all her self control to not look over at them in fear that they would be publicly displaying their affection even though Derek hated that.

A brisk walked turned into a sprint as she dodged the couple in time. Her breathing grew ragged as she stumbled through the backyard only to be met with awkward stares. She politely nodded at everyone and raced inside only to smack right into Casey.

"EMILY, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you. Anyway, now that you're here I want you to meet a friend of mine. Emily, this is Jacob." Casey said gesturing to the rather tall fellow beside her.

Emily did her usual quick scan and saw that there seemed to not be anything visibly wrong with him. That was only step one, now for step two was to hear how well he gave himself off.

"Hi there Emily, it's a pleasure to meet you." Jacob said as he firmly shook her hand. Emily politely smiled at him but felt like this guy was more of Casey's type than hers.

"Likewise, but if you could excuse me for a minute, I just wanted to talk to Casey. Thanks." Emily promptly spat out before dragging Casey away to the kitchen.

"Emily, what are you doing? Jacob seems pretty nice, you should be in there talking with him."

"No Casey, I think you should. Honestly, were you really trying when you were picking these guys for me to meet? I mean really, the first guy was just outright disgusting, then there was Mr. Cheesy Romantic and now you try to set me up with your perfect match. I am your best friend, aren't I?"

Emily pleaded with Casey.

"Of course you are Em, I mean I only-"

Emily briefly cut Casey off, "I know you mean well but sometimes I don't think you really know. Don't take that as offensive, but I almost feel like some random whore being sold out to random, creepy guys."

"Sorry Em, really I-" Casey couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"Look Casey, you're my best friend and I know you are always looking out for me, but there are some things that are better left untouched, like my love life. I think I'm gonna head out." Emily finally stated as she worked her way through the super crowded house.

She was almost out the door when she felt yet another tap on her shoulder. Emily was getting pretty tired of all this damn tapping and when she turned around, he or she better be worth it.

"Emily, Emily Davis? Is that really you?" Emily turned around and looked at a boy. He was familiar looking and his voice seemed to flow pleasantly through her ears. She couldn't quite put her finger on who this guy was.

"Um, yes, its really me. And you are?" Emily asked as she gave the guy her usual full inspection.

"You don't remember? It's Nate." The boy smiled again and Emily felt like she was melting away. "Derek's cousin?" He offered one more time before it finally registered with Emily.

Nate was Derek's cousin who used to visit frequently when they were younger. Eventually he stopped coming and that friendship ceased but here he was now all grown up and looking mighty fine.

"Wow Nate, I haven't seen you in ages. How have you been?" Emily replied while giving the mandatory haven't-seen-you-in-ages-awkward hug.

"I'm doing pretty good, just started college over at NYU but thought I would drop in to the Venturi household for a much deserved visit."

"Wow college much be so exciting and I really haven't seen you in such a long time. You stopped coming to visit for awhile, I thought I'd never see you again." Emily answered as she blushed at the sound of neediness in her voice.

"Yeah, things were getting pretty busy and after awhile I didn't have much time to visit so I thought I should make a little detour. I'm happy I did." Nate replied as he smiled at Emily.

Emily could feel it now, so much clearer than before. She felt this residual warming of her entire body as she continued talking with Nate. They had been talking for what seemed like hours when they realized the party was dwindling down to an end.

"We seemed to have lost track of the time." Nate said as he surveyed the near empty room.

"Yeah, we breezed through the party, but personally I had more fun talking to you." Emily smiled sweetly back at Nate.

Emily thought nothing could knock her out off of the cloud she was on just now. Well, Emily thought wrong as Casey entered the room.

"EM! I have been looking for you everywhere! And I see that you're talking with someone…hi I'm Cas-" Casey stopped mid-sentence as she then realized who it was. "Oh hey Nate."

"Hey Casey. So Emily's your best friend?"

"Yeah, best buds till the end. Mind if I steal her away for a second?" Casey said as she eyed Emily.

"Sure no problem." Nate replied as he sunk back into the couch and messed around with his cell phone.

Casey hastily pulled Emily a good distance away from Nate before blurting out all her questions.

"You do know who that is right? Casey asked as her eyes shifted to Nate and back to Emily in seconds.

"Yes I do and I know you know who he is so what's with the questioning?" Emily answered.

"Really Emily? You don't see the problem with trying to date Derek's cousin?" Casey asked impatiently as her foot began tapping incessantly on the ground.

"No, in fact, I see no problem. So what if he's Derek's cousin? When we were younger I played with Nate just as much as I played with Derek and if anything we were really good friends." Emily reasoned. "Didn't I just talk with you earlier about butting in when unnecessary?"

Casey's face fell as she felt her friend's words sting her.

"Sorry Casey, but let me just handle things my way. I'll talk to you later." Emily said as she slowly backed away from Casey and spun on her heel and made her way back to Nate.

Nate looked up as Emily made her way back to him.

"Is everything alright? Casey looked like she was getting upset." Nate questioned as he looked over to where the two girls were just standing.

"Yeah, well you know Casey. Just wants things her way even when it affects other people." Emily said as she looked towards the ground. "But wow, it was so nice catching up with you. You should definitely visit more often." Emily smiled as she looked up into Nate's eyes.

"It was really great catching up with you too. Actually, mind if I walk you home?" Nate said as he gestured his hand to the door. Emily silently nodded and began the slow yet short walk to her front steps.

Literally, it was only several steps that got Emily and Nate to her front door.

"Well I had a lot of fun catching up with you." Emily said as she shyly shuffled her feet. She looked up only to come eye to eye with him. She stared out through her lashes as her heart fluttered quickly.

Nate stared back at her with such intensity it could have melted her on the spot. "Too bad I have to go back to New York so soon, otherwise it would have been a different story."

"Then I guess there's only one thing left." Emily said as she closed the tiny gap in between them and caught Nate's lips into a kiss.

Emily felt herself melt into Nate and she pressed her whole body into him. They briefly parted lips and she sighed into his cheek.

"Thanks for a great night." Emily breathed into his ear. She hugged him briefly, pecked him once more on the cheek and slipped inside her house leaving Nate stunned as he stood for a second longer before walking back to the Venturi house.

Emily smiled to herself as she got ready for bed. She recalled the whole night from the horrible wannabes trying to get her attention to calling Casey out on trying to set her up all the way to talking and hanging out with Nate and finally ending in a good night kiss. Maybe the night wasn't so horrible after all.


End file.
